Dogs just wanna have Fun
by Jass Richards
Reviewed by Sally Marchant
on 9th September 2014
|
Dogs Just Wanna Have Fun is a lovely collection of short stories about a lady and her ever-increasing collection of dogs that she walks each day. Brett doesn't go out to gather dogs, they just seem to come to her, and the more she helps dogs, the more people come to her for help with theirs.
Each story is about a new 'addition' to the group, from the ex racer and the puppy mill dog, to those with owners who simply don't understand their pets. Brett mixes common sense with an obvious love of the dogs and their individual personalities to create the perfect environment for each pooch, re homing where necessary. There are some parts, however, that seem to show a lack of common sense, such as when she takes multiple dogs to a sheep herding trials and doesn't take leads for them so they end up joining in, or losing a clients dog at the show and 'waiting till the end' to find them, or giving every dog a whole ice cream each every time they go the beach. Unfortunately these did leave me worrying throughout the book that new pet owners might think these behaviours are ok. There were a few other ways that she deals with behaviour 'problems', that are unlikely to help in real life situations and unfortunately again take something away from the overall quality of the book. The stories are very anthropomorphic but in a good way, giving the dogs personalities and roles but not disrespecting the fact that they are dogs, not little people. The gentle humour throughout makes this collection of short stories very readable: “I gave Jocko, and Snookums, a treat from my pocket, which was always full. Unless I happened to throw my jacket onto the floor, in which case the pocket would be mysteriously empty next time I checked.” Although I was surprised by the occasional swear word throughout the book as without these, it could easily be read to older children. I thoroughly enjoyed the writing style, it's the type of book I had to keep reading bits out to my husband! Overall I enjoyed the book and would recommend it as lovely 'pick up, put down' reading material. |